DaveyBoy's Wrestling Menu - Raw Review, PPV Predictions & What To Do With Cena
Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, December 14, 2005 at 5:19 AM EST






THE WRESTLING MENU #154

Welcome one and all to the 154th edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.

It's been a very busy week for me & one of the reasons for that is the amount of feedback that I received for my WrestleMania 22 booking column from last Wednesday. I had over 9,000 hits for that column & it felt like that I got as many emails! Not only that, but many of them were so detailed & long, that I am still working my way through reading & replying to them. So if you have yet to receive a reply from me, please be a little patient. For that reason, I will include reader ideas for WrestleMania 22 in next week's column instead of today. A link to that column will be provided at the end of this column if you have yet to read it.

This introductions section of my column has been known to mention the show known as 'Velocity' lately. And this week is no exception. Two matches from that show caught my eye this week. Firstly, there was the always impressive tag-team of Paul London & Brian Kendrick defeating Vito & Nunzio.

On top of that, there was a nice little match between Simon Dean & Caprice Coleman. Coleman is very similar to Shelton Benjamin in size, look & wrestling style. The WWE should take a look at this guy. Maybe he can lose to the likes of Trevor Murdoch instead of Shelton! But then there was Simon Dean, who I'm certain looks at Velocity as a way of experimenting. This week, he used a variety of strange looking submission holds which caught my eye. Without stating that it's a must watch, Velocity really does provide something different, even if it's from predominantly the same wrestlers.

Replacing the WrestleMania 22 feedback this week will be a Raw review.

It will be a fairly long column today, so on with the show.....


APPETIZERS - Raw Review

Before I begin, I do have to make brief mention of last week's episode of Raw. It was one of those few times that a sports-entertainment heavy episode of Raw worked decently. The trial of Eric Bischoff & Cutting Edge segments had trainwreck written all over them, but somehow succeeded in coming off as entertaining & progressing storylines and/or characters. Meanwhile, the matches had enough to like about them, without being anything too memorable. Could the WWE back this up, or would they get carried away & cross the line...??? Let's find out.....

- We begin with a strange trial recap from last week. It included corny 70's courtroom drama music, while summing up the events that occurred. Went on a bit, but served it's purpose well enough. It's just not something I am used to seeing begin a show.

- Unsure if following that up with Vince McMahon talking was the best thing to do. But I suppose Vince had to set up the night as soon as possible. He was his usual cocky self (again describing himself as "virile"), while stating that he was the Interim GM. He disappointed the live audience by insinuating that a new GM would not be named tonight, while winning most of them back by booking 5 Elimination Chamber qualification matches.

- The opener between Kurt Angle & Ric Flair was solid. It was actually a surprise to hear Flair's music, as I didn't think he would wrestle until the new year. Good back & forth wrestling until Kurt gets the cheap win with help from his gold medals.

- The match was a little overshadowed by the aftermath though, as Kurt got on the microphone & really tried to press home his heel character by stating that he chose not to go to Afghanistan because America doesn't treat him well. He then goes on to say that he may go & sign a few autographs when they finally catch Osama! After Daivari spits on a Larry Bird statue backstage, John Cena enters the fray & capitalizes on some hometown face pops, while calling Daivari a "bootleg Iron Sheik". A tad controversial, and it probably won't help Cena much, but it proves that the WWE are adamantly going to keep Angle a heel.

- Edge & Lita run into Ric Flair backstage. They attempt to taunt Flair into hitting Lita, in order to further add to his legal problems. Segment was simple enough to give reason to a feud between the 2, although it could have been a lot better.

- Also backstage, Shelton Benjamin then got his heel turn off to a great start with another segment opposite HBK. Benjamin seemed very comfortable with what he was given to say & it was well-written to have meaning behind it, while adding to his overall intensity.

- Great booking to have that attitude continuing on into his match, as Shelton didn't waste any time in laying into Carlito. And while the middle portion of the bout was too similar to the numerous bouts we have seen between these two in 2005, the good beginning was well backed-up by a neat closing sequence. Adding to the heel turn storyline, Benjamin gets rolled up when he goes to spit apple at CCC! More than sufficient, although the crowd seemed a little confused as to how to treat Shelton.

- Backstage, Vince McMahon has to put up with a GM application from Trevor Murdoch, before having his monthly flirt with one of the divas. Which one do you think Dusty Rhodes was more turned on by!?!?!? This time, the diva was Candice & her wand. And there was even more corny music in the background here. What the hell is up with that?

- Interesting match-up next as HBK takes on TBS. Man, Shawn looked tiny next to The Big Show.! I suppose the strange face vs face match-up should have told us what was to come; As Triple H came out & got TBS disqualified by hitting Michaels with a chair. Really well booked & a tremendous storyline progression. But on top of that, this bout was actually quite good. I loved the big man vs small man dynamic here & the way HBK tried everything to get around Big Show was fascinating to watch. Furthermore, HBK's touches of comedy were very entertaining. Good stuff!

- Vince sets up some sort of blindfold match backstage next. I knew the good matches couldn't last!

- Masters vs Viscera was the 4th Elimination Chamber qualifier of the night. Masters wins with an impressive MasterLock, after almost killing himself earlier in the bout with an attempted bodyslam! Get ready for the rumors of a back injury!

- Nice little backstage segment involving Trish & Mickie. I'll say it again; Whoever has been booking the Women's Division lately, deserves a raise.

- So much for Matt Striker's demotion, as he pops up on Raw tonight. It was actually a good heat-drawing segment, as he continued on in his evil teacher character that he has established over the past couple of months on Heat & wwe.com. Unsure how long the gimmick can be successful for, but this was a decent start/continuation.

- Holy Christopher Nowinski sighting!!! Holy Dusty Rhodes sighting!!! Thank goodness he was properly dressed! Thank goodness he hardly talked... yet!

- Good women's match next as Mickie James defeats Victoria with a huge DDT. It's now official that James will face Trish Stratus at 'New Years Revolution'. This storyline keeps moving along well, while Victoria perfectly plays the under-rated co-star.

- The final qualifying match for the Elimination Chamber was Triple H vs Kane. The bout was actually a fair bit better than I expected it to be. Good back & forth stuff, with enough variety to suffice. Predictably, Big Show came down (while the referee was knocked out) to help Kane get the win. As much as we knew it was going to happen, this was logical booking that was well-performed & quite entertaining. Plus, nothing is necessarily predictable when it involves H losing!

- Our main event of the evening was very much predictable though. Predictable in it's mediocrity. Blindfold matches are hard to pull off, especially when there is no comedy involved. This was no exception, as too much time was wasted seeing Cena pointing around the ring & running around in circles. Once both men got to the mat, the bout didn't last long, as Cena officially adds the STF(U) to his repertoire. Afterwards, Cena & Angle go at it yet again, to prove that the Elimination Chamber may as well be a one on one match.

All in all, I was very impressed with this episode of Raw. There was nothing too extraordinary & it may not remain in our memories for all that long, but this show very much served it's purpose. The booking of practically the whole night was tremendous & logical. It basically fit 2-3 weeks of storyline into 1 night, because basically it had to! Above average matches were everywhere. 7 bouts all up. Great storyline progression. Entertaining. Well-performed. Etc, etc, etc... A job really well done. A rather quiet crowd & the exclusion of anything too special keeps the rating down a little, but I would rate this episode of Raw a B+.


MAIN - What To Do With Cena

In all honesty, I have been waiting for quite a few weeks to write this column topic. There are a couple of reasons for that: Firstly, I wanted to get my thoughts a little clearer, and secondly, I was waiting a while to see what the WWE would initially do with regards to his character. I can't say that I am still entirely convinced of my thought process, but now is indeed the correct time to pull the trigger. Hopefully, I don't shoot into the wind & lose half of my readership with my opinion!!!

I must admit that I wasn't too perturbed with the sporadic booing of John Cena initially. It genuinely was only here & there, and anyone placed into feuds with a heel Chris Jericho or Kurt Angle can expect it to some extent. Even the duelling 50-50 chants at Survivor Series didn't really bother me, as they actually added positively to the atmosphere of the match. But pretty much from the Raw episode after the pay-per-view, the level of booing has got genuinely worrying. Obviously, this week's episode of Raw was an exception as it emanated from Cena's home state of Massachusetts.

I am fairly certain that the original plan was for a face John Cena to wrestle a heel Triple H at WrestleMania 22. But the level to which the booing of John Cena has reached now has this match in serious danger. The bout may now go ahead as is, go ahead with the heel-face dynamic switched, or not go ahead at all. And it's arguable that the odds for each possibility are currently 33.33% for each possibility.

Something must be done! I will admit that the WWE can't just sleepwalk through the next couple of months as it pertains to John Cena. But what should be done...??? To me, there are 4 main choices here. They are as follows:

(a) Keep Cena as a face champ, but book him more carefully & cleverly
(b) Keep Cena as WWE Champion, but turn him heel by the end of January
(c) Keep Cena as a face, but have him drop the WWE Championship
(d) Have Cena drop the WWE Championship & turn him heel

Seriously, not only are these 4 options possible, but they could all realistically work & be successful. Whether you like Cena or not, he has the ability & ethic to pull off whatever the WWE ask him to do. Furthermore, if I was to run some sort of a straw poll, I would believe that all 4 options would have their supporters. I'm really not sure if there is a right or wrong answer here! If I was to hazard to take a guess as to which options would be most popular, I would have to say choice (c) might just edge out choice (b). This is because it's realistic change without going overboard.

So what does DaveyBoy think...??? Well, my "lose half of my readership" comment from earlier in this topic should have given you a hint. I'm going to be stubborn & opt for option (a). I admit that I am not entirely certain of my answer, but I have enough booking to back it up, so hear me out on this one.

Keep in mind that all I am trying to do with the following booking is keep Cena as a face WWE Champion up until WrestleMania 22. Once the night arrives, or following the big event, I would have no problems with options (b), (c) or (d) occurring. In fact, I actually feel that come WrestleMania 22, or the Raw episode afterwards, Cena should have either lost the title, turned heel, or both. But my following booking is meant at keeping Cena a decently strong face until at least mid-March

There is now under 4 months left until WrestleMania 22. Two or three of those weeks are basically weeks off with 'best of' episodes & 'visit the troops' episodes of Raw airing. So we basically have only 3 months worth of booking to keep Cena as a face champ. Considering the way the WWE have booked their feuds this year, 3 months worth is pretty much only 1 feud. I'm serious!!! Cena can get through this period with just 1 feud. So it's vitally important that the person chosen to oppose Cena from January through March is the correct man. Someone that the fans are unlikely to cheer & who Cena can play off of well.

My choice is Edge.

The Cutting Edge segment on Raw will undoubtedly continue to increase the heel heat that Edge will receive over the holiday season. Come 'New Years Revolution', I will leave it up to the WWE bookers to find a creative & satisfactory way to have Cena retain his WWE Championship in the Elimination Chamber. I think they can do that, although keeping the New York crowd from booing the house down is another matter! But during that show, there should be some sort of interaction between Cena & Triple H (probably a backstage segment) which plants the seeds for their WrestleMania 22 feud & match.

Earlier in the night, Edge should be used in either a segment or a short match (due to his injury) which gains a lot of heel heat. Maybe he could walk out (or pull out) of a scheduled InterContinental Title match against Ric Flair, or something like that. Then, come the main event, Cena should retain after going through the match of his life. He should end the bout bloodied & injured after taking a hammering from all 5 competitors. Then, just as it appears as if the ppv is about to end & go off the air, Edge's music hits. He enters the Elimination Chamber & starts hammering away on Cena with his briefcase. He then grabs the microphone & announces to everyone that he is about to withdraw his money in the bank. And the withdrawal will take place at The Royal Rumble.

Now I'm not saying that the booking of this feud is going to win back everyone's support for John Cena. But less people are likely to cheer Edge than a Jericho or an Angle. This is especially the case of late, with Edge genuinely getting some good heal heat in one way or another. But there is one more positive for Cena in all of this; Lita. At the height of all that booing of Cena on Raw, remember when Cena was wandering around backstage feeding off the likes of The Boogeyman, Snitsky & Tomko for comedy? There was not much booing then, as it's hard to laugh & boo at the same time. The WWE should use Lita in a similar way.

Cena should hound Lita similar to the past when Chris Jericho used the same technique on Stephanie McMahon to get face pops. And don't even think that Cena couldn't pull it off. When at his best on the microphone, he can be as effective as anyone. As hard as it is to believe, there may be a day when Edge & Lita do get cheered for some of their exploits. But I do not believe that day is anytime soon. If the WWE unleash John Cena on the microphone against both Edge & Lita, while Cena also picks up his intensity towards his new arch-rival, then I genuinely believe that this could prolong John Cena's face title reign until close to WrestleMania 22.

With Edge possibly still not 100%, their match at The Royal Rumble can be short & have some sort of unclean finish which results in the 2 continuing their feud throughout February. Maybe the climax could be on the recently announced Saturday Night's Main Event special to air some time in March. Not long after, Triple H enters the equation & from there, whatever will happen will happen.

The final reason why I like this booking is that it clears the money in the bank stipulation which Edge has, without him main-eventing WrestleMania 22. Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of Edge. But I'm unsure if his character will be built up enough to main-event the grand-daddy of them all in the first week of April. In a way, this will be a test for him. It will show the WWE if he is genuinely a main-eventer or not.


DESSERT

Armageddon Predictions

As of this writing, there have only been 4 matches officially announced for 'Armageddon'. But I do think that it's odds-on that 2 other bouts will be added, so I have included them in my predictions.

MnM vs PSYCHOSIS & SUPER CRAZY: I'm still a little undecided as to whether or not I have been impressed with the way the WWE have built up this feud & match. In a way, I like the way that they've set it up nice & slowly. This bout was always coming & should be great on the night. However, something keeps hammering away at me suggesting that the tag-team division on SmackDown has even more potential than this & this match could have been built up as being super important. I will call it as down the middle right now, with the deciding factor being what occurs on the night. Let's hope these 2 teams don't let us down & they put together a match that tells a very good story, while being very entertaining. As for the result, I can genuinely see an upset occurring here, but I'm going to play it safe & say..... Winners: MnM

BOOKER T vs CHRIS BENOIT in Match 4 of a 'Best of 7' Series: I think it's fair to say that most people have been a little disappointed with the 3 matches in this series so far. I can't say that I am one of those people though. While none of the matches have been sensational, a rather interesting story is being told. And no, I'm not even talking about the 3-0 lead that Booker carries into this bout. Ignoring the score, I find it fascinating that throughout the matches, Booker seems to have an answer for pretty much everything that Benoit throws at him. Arising from this, it's rather fascinating to see Booker playing the confident heel, while Benoit plays the frustrated face. I really do feel that there is some good storytelling going on here & most people are missing it due to the inherent negatives arising from a best of 7 series. The icing on the cake needs to be a sensational match. Maybe this one will be it. Winner: Chris Benoit

JOHN BRADSHAW LAYFIELD vs MATT HARDY: These two just have to be on the card against each other as they are the 2 big names not initially listed as having a match. There really isn't any history here & that's obviously disappointing. Come the night though, what can they do? My guess is something decent, but not very special. If JBL can bring his A-game, while Matt brings some intensity to the ring, this could be better than expected. Otherwise, mark this down for approximately a 6 rating. As for the result, JBL is simply the wrestler who is currently higher on the card. Winner: JBL

JUVENTUD GUERRERA vs KID KASH for the WWE Cruiserweight Title: This is just one of those matches where a couple of extra weeks of build could have made the world of difference. As we still get 'Velocity' in Australia, I have been able to see Kid Kash's progression over the past couple of months. But apart from a few stand-in cameos, he hasn't been spotted on SmackDown. Why couldn't he have had a match against another cruiserweight 3 or 4 weeks ago. It wouldn't have even had to be that long. It just needed to exist so that the fans could know who Kid Kash was! But as it is now, the storyline simply consists of Juvi being the champ & this other heel guy wanting the title. Both men are inconsistent in the ring, so this could be anything. Let's just hope that come Sunday night, they bring their best. If they do, and they are given 8-10 minutes, this could be really something. But don't expect the live crowd to care too much! Winner: Juventud Guerrera

REY MYSTERIO & BATISTA vs KANE & THE BIG SHOW: The idea behind this match is actually a good one. It protects Batista (due to his injury) a little, while continuing on the Raw vs SmackDown theme started in October, and sure to last through WrestleMania 22 in early April. The problem though is that the WWE needs to carefully book the bout due to the fact that Kane & The Big Show hold the World Tag-Team Titles. I mean, what does it say about the champions if a thrown together team on the other brand beat them? As this may not be the main-event on the night, I can foresee an unclean finish here, with at least one other person getting involved & a storyline being progressed (or even started). While I actually wouldn't mind it being someone like JBL costing the SmackDown team the win, I have to play it safe & suggest the home team takes the victory with Triple H being the likely interferer. Winners: Rey Mysterio & Batista

RANDY ORTON vs THE UNDERTAKER in a 'Hell In A Cell' Match: Similar to my booking of Shawn Michaels vs Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 22, this match is the decider in a feud that has lasted since WrestleMania 21. It currently stands at 1-1 & I have no problem with this decider taking place in a 'Hell In A Cell' match. Both of their past 2 efforts against each other have surprised critics of both men, as they have put together high-quality bouts. Can they do it again? I can't see why not, as the Cell gimmick allows them to add even more variation to their storytelling & performance. While I do believe the mind games that have dominated the build-up to this match have definitely gone over the top, I don't think it will adversely effect the bout too much. As for the result, I really do feel that Orton has progressed too far for the WWE to take the "close is good enough" approach when in comes to winning this feud. Randy should win & the only thing that needs to be decided is how clean that win will be. It's always risky to bet against 'Taker, but I've played it too safe on this card so far. Winner: Randy Orton


Ok, so there we have the 2005 version of 'Armageddon' as it currently stands. The WWE may choose to leave it at 6 matches, but they are likely to add a squash match involving a Bobby Lashley or Boogeyman win. Other than that, I could possibly see The Dicks defeating LOD 2005 on Heat. This is consistently one of the poorer pay-per-views on the WWE calendar, but I must say that this card does have the potential to be more than decent. Even those matches given hardly any build-up could be pretty good on the night. Let's just hope that the WWE & the wrestlers turn that potential into something positive. To those who are purchasing the event; Enjoy.


Ok, that's all I have for edition #154 of 'The Wrestling Menu'. Please don't hesitate to let me know what you thought of my Raw review. And how about my 'Armageddon' predictions... Have I got them correct...??? Finally, have I swayed your mind just a little with regards to keeping John Cena as a face champion for the next 3 or so months? Could a Cena vs Edge feud do the trick, or has the ship well & truly sailed...??? As per usual, I will reply to everyone. My e-mail address is DaveyBoy123@bigpond.com

Or alternately, if you are an LOPForums member, you may also leave feedback by clicking on the following link: http://www.lopforums.com/showthread.php?t=4889

Remember that if you have yet to read my WrestleMania 22 card that I posted last Wednesday, you may do so by clicking on the following link: http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/2005_/articles/1133939739.php . I am still taking ideas to post in next week's column.

Next week's 'Wrestling Menu' will obviously include some reader feedback to my WrestleMania 22 card. I can say that I already have a couple of nice little variations which admittedly improves on my original booking. It should be an interesting read to see what you guys come up with. I will also have my review of Armageddon. Here's hoping for a very good pay-per-view. Otherwise, I'm unsure on the 3rd topic at this stage. It will be close to Christmas come next Wednesday, so maybe I can work something Christmassy into the column. So look out for that column same Wednesday time & same LOP channel next week. Until then, this is DaveyBoy signing off & asking you to remember that dinner is best served in 3 courses.












9/3: HUGE Update on The Undertaker's WM Streak! Which WWE RAW STAR Is Going To End It, Storyline, TONS MORE!! Read Now!

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